Double trouble for Trump as he faces ‘hush money’ criminal case hearing, ruling in $370M fraud trial this week
Donald Trump is facing a big rest of the week in New York courts with a hearing in the Manhattan district attorney’s “hush money” criminal case that he must attend Thursday — and a potentially financially crushing ruling expected Friday in the $370 million fraud suit against him.
Trump, 77, must appear in Manhattan Supreme Court, where Justice Juan Merchan will hammer out any final pretrial issues and confirm whether the proceedings will start as scheduled next month.
If the trial does start March 25, it would mark the first of four criminal cases to get underway against the former president as he sets his sights on regaining the White House in November with the prospect of prison time looming over him.
A few doors down from the Lower Manhattan courthouse where the trial will take place, a highly anticipated decision is set to come down in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil case accusing Trump of exaggerating his net worth by billions a year to get better loan and insurance terms.
Justice Arthur Engoron’s ruling — which could imperil Trump’s business empire and deal a devastating blow to his wallet — will be the culmination of three months of testimony heard last year during the non-jury trial in Manhattan Civil Supreme Court.
The GOP presidential front-runner testified at trial, as did his two eldest sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and daughter Ivanka.
Trump hasn’t been in court for the Manhattan criminal case since his arraignment in April on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
The charges stem from allegations he directed “hush money” payments, including to former porn star Stormy Daniels, to keep claims about extramarital affairs quiet in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
Trump faces imprisonment in that case and the three other criminal cases against him in Georgia, Florida and Washington, DC.
Hearings are also scheduled both Thursday and Friday in the Georgia election fraud case against the real estate tycoon and over a dozen others — for which Trump is not expected to show up.
Trump co-defendant Mike Roman will be calling witnesses — potentially including embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and lead Trump prosecutor Nathan Wade — as he seeks to throw out the charges against him or kick Willis off the case in part because of her admitted romantic relationship with Wade.
Trump and the majority of the other defendants in the Georgia case have since joined Roman’s motion to disqualify Willis, alleging that she improperly financially benefited from appointing Wade to the probe — for which he was paid lucratively — after he treated her to vacations.
Earlier this month, Willis and Wade — who has been embroiled in a bitter divorce since 2021 — admitted they were in a romantic relationship but said it didn’t start until after Wade was appointed, that it presented no conflict of interest in the case and that Willis hasn’t benefited financially from Wade’s earnings.
An embattled Trump has maintained his innocence in all of the cases he faces — both civil and criminal — and has claimed they are part of a political witch hunt by President Biden and the left to take him down.
He has repeatedly attacked the Democratic prosecutors in the cases against him, including Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, James and Willis.
In a Truth Social post just Tuesday, Trump blasted Biden, claiming he “ILLEGALLY WEAPONIZED THE DOJ & FBI, TOGETHER WITH LOCAL D.A.’S & ATTORNEY GENERALS [sic], AGAINST HIS POLITICAL OPPONENT, ME!”
